1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus including a drum unit and a development unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been disclosed an image forming apparatus in which a plurality of image process units each having a drum unit and a development unit is detachably attachable and are aligned horizontally along an intermediate transfer belt (e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-15420).
However, in the configuration described in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-15420, a configuration of supplying toner from a supply unit to a development unit and a configuration of discharging the toner from the development unit to a disposal unit cannot be compatible with an exchanging performance of the development unit without difficulty. For attaining the compatibility between them, problems of complicating the toner conveying path and increasing sizes of an apparatus body arise.
In many cases, the toner conveying path extends in a vertical direction, and the supply and discharge of the toner with respect to a development unit are performed in the vertical direction. In a configuration having image process units aligned horizontally, however, the development unit and the drum unit are separated horizontally from each other when the development unit and the drum unit are exchanged.
Therefore, when the development unit is to be separated, for example, horizontally, a whole or a part of the toner conveying path must be configured to move in the horizontal direction together with the development unit. Alternatively, toner dispersion must be prevented at the time of the separation or contact by fixing the toner conveying path and arranging a shutter in a sealed fashion in a separation/contact portion separating or contacting the development unit from or with the drum unit.